“There will be no French food sovereignty, there will be no manufacturing in France, if there are no profitable companies,” defends Lambert, who has just left the presidency of the main food group lobbying the European Union.
A third of manufacturers show a loss
Nearly one in three red meat processors (30%) closed fiscal 2023 at a loss, according to a study by the Bank of France commissioned by Fict, the Inaporc interprofessional association and public institution France AgriMer. It was one in four (25%) in 2022.
Net margin – which assesses the income a company generates in relation to its costs – has eroded to 0.9% of turnover on average for meat companies, compared to 2.3% across the entire agri-food industry.
“Our roast meat processing companies process 75% of French pigs. If they encounter difficulties, and do not have the means to invest and modernize, they lose their place on the shelves compared to imported products, which also hurts pig farmers,” says the president of Fict, herself a pig producer. .
The organization has around 300 members: companies of all sizes, including heavyweights Herta, Fleury Michon and Aoste.
